The reshaping of society that the world is witnessing right now is unparalleled, probably this is the only time since WW2 that the world has seen such drastic changes. The outbreak has adversely impacted almost all sectors including prominent sectors like education; students and teachers are facing unprecedented challenges in this crisis leading to anomalous solutions, Institutes and faculties are trying new and creative ways to reach out to students and stand out but the most standard and common solution that educational bodies are resorting to is E-Learning or more commonly known as online learning.
Is India Ready for the transition?
Prima Facie E-Learning sound so advanced and fascinating and a very good alternative to conventional learning methods but is it really a good alternative? Is India ready to switch to online platforms in such a short notice? The inceptive period of the journey might be struggling but things are expected to be smooth as it progresses. Indians often stand out with innovative solutions of complex problems with their creative minds so we should also work on this and invent new solutions to fight this problem however many educational institutes have already developed their own app to teach students but using such apps are only limited to a small fraction of society as many households lack basic resources leave alone high-speed internet connections and smartphones.
Lack of Resources
India is a developing nation and is undoubtedly progressing in all fields but still there are many aspects where India lacks if compared to other Asian countries like Japan, China etc. For instance apart from trailing behind at advance digital infrastructure, Many households especially lower-income ones have to go through frequent power cuts or no electricity at all! So how can we even think of completely transitioning to online platforms when we lack far behind the basic resources. Many students have their educational institute an escape because they have an unfavorable environment at home like family fights or congested rooms and educational institutes are there last resorts.
Addendum
India should come out with new and creative ways to reach out students and educate them, for example recently a Govt. run school in a rural area of Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh has started taking classes on WhatsApp and set an example for other primary and upper primary schools to follow the same and in the west Rajasthan Govt. has taken a good initiative of starting educational lectures via radio, I-B Ministry allots separate slot to teach students over All India Radio (AIR) and this initiative is commendable because such learning methods will not affect eyes and will be reachable to lower-income level demography as well. The government can also start teaching via television as it can solve the network issue problem and it is also available to a wider level audience. New ways and guidelines should be introduced by the Government to handle this unparalleled situation and to keep this process of learning going.
